1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to manipulating pages of a material. This includes turning pages of a material and also obtaining data from the material. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus that enables the pages or leaves of the material to be turned so that the data thereon may be recorded by a data obtaining mechanism with minimal image distortion and degradation.
2. Brief Description of the Art
Photocopying multiple pages from materials, such as, for example, reference books, newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and magazines, is a difficult and cumbersome process. Conventional photocopying machines are designed to copy flat materials. Present methods of photocopying pages from a material such as a book, involve placing the open book face-down on the glass platen surface of a photocopier or scanning device, pressing down on the spine of the book, pressing the Print/Copy button to scan and/or photocopy, and waiting a few seconds for the page to be reproduced.
One conventional approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,956, entitled, “Printer Having Page-Turning Apparatus For Passbooks And With Page-Turning Capability Even After Initial Deformation Of Sheets To Be Turned”, issued Feb. 15, 1994 to Mochizuki. This patent relates to a printer for passbooks or the like, which is brought in on a transfer path, is stopped at the position of a page-turning roller, where a sheet is turned over by the operation of the page-turning roller. When a sheet is turned over by the page-turning roller, at a position separate from a start position of turning over of a sheet, the passbook undergoes an initial deformation in a out-of-plane direction so that the passbook is bent in a first-order mode. By this initial deformation, a sheet can be turned over steadily. Such a turnover of the sheet can be effected in conjunction with utilizing an optical system which provides an image of the three-dimensional deformation pattern of the passbook which is processed. In accordance with this pattern a decision is made whether or not the out-of-plane deformation of the passbook is more than a specified amount. In the vicinity of the transfer path there is also provided a push guide that gives a deformation to the passbook when a sheet is turned over. Based on a frictional control of the page-turning operation, a steady turnover of the sheet can be affected regardless of buckling resistance force of the sheet to be turned over.
One disadvantage to that approach is that it fails to obtain data from the passbook; but merely prints additional information on a page of the passbook.
Another conventional approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,594, entitled, “Platen Transport And Vacuum Plenum For Book Copying” issued Sep. 15, 1987 to Garavuso et al. This patent relates to an arrangement for transporting a book facedown onto and off of a copier that includes a platen transport and a belt transport positioned on opposite sides of a vacuum plenum that is used to peel the bottommost page from a book to turn the same as the book is moved back and forth between the transport platen and belt member. As the book moves the vacuum plenum by a predetermined amount, it contacts a roller and is supported on the roller as it is transported onto and off of the platen by the platen transport. The roller reduces the friction between the pages of the book and the platen.
One disadvantage to that approach is that it requires the book to be moved, which can cause damage to the book.
One disadvantage to another conventional approach is that the book or material to be photocopied must be lifted, the page turned manually, and the process repeated for each page that is to be photocopied. This allows the copying of one or two pages at a time, depending on the size of the book relative to the photocopying surface. Thus, the photocopying process is cumbersome when photocopying numerous pages from a material, especially when performing research that requires photocopying a large number of pages from periodicals, because typically periodicals are not allowed to be checked out of a library.
Another disadvantage to the conventional photocopying approach is that it often results in damage to the material from repeated manipulation and handling, and the pressure placed on the spine of the material during the photocopying process.
Yet another disadvantage to the conventional approach is that it may result in distorted photocopies when the material to be copied is not pressed firmly against the platen.
Yet another disadvantage to the conventional approach is that it is very tiresome, inefficient, and time-consuming.
What is needed to overcome drawbacks in the state of the art is a method and apparatus for efficiently turning pages of a material to permit recording and reproducing distortion-free images from the material without damaging the material.